Color outside the lines

I grew up in the heart of New Orleans.  We only had one car, my dad mostly used it for work, leaving my mom and I to walk almost everywhere we went.  It's an old, beautiful city.  At the time, I didn't realize it, but the big city life left a mark on me.  A mark that later on in life would inspire and influence my art.  A mark that isn't exclusive to New Orleans, but to all big cities.  Urban decay.

Urban decay is when a previously functioning location- a city, part of a city, a building- falls in to disrepair and disuse.  I love the beauty and horror that coexist in urban decay.  So much emotion and personality in the ruin. So much history.  A wonder of what once lived here, and what creatures might still creep in the shadows. 

I am not an urban artist... I don't draw cities, buildings or other urban environments.   But I try to bring the feel of urban decay in to my work.  The strong emotions.  The cracks, the mess, the uneven.  I try to capture that look of  something old, worn and broken.  I don't want the perfect, spotless art.  I want the running ink, the paint falling outside the lines, the unintentional droplets of paint that fall on the paper. I want the messy lines and heavy shadows. There is nothing more beautiful then that.